dizziness or something else????

I am wondering if my dizziness is anixety related or if it is realted to the scm muscle...mine is almost like a dizziness inside my head but nothing moves and it happens not everyday only like a once a month and it happens when i move my head and hold it there for a little bit.....last night i got dizziness and my mom had just left on vavacation and i was really axnious about that but i am wondering if thst would cause my to be dizziness or not DOES ANYONE no any information about the SCM muscle in ur neck??? help please

Thanks for using the forum. I am happy to address your questions, and my answer will be based on the information you provided here. Please make sure you recognize that this forum is for educational purposes only, and it does not substitute for a formal office visit with your doctor.

Without the ability to examine you and obtain a history, I can not tell you what the exact cause of your symptoms is. However I will try to provide you with some useful information.

I am not sure what you mean by the term dizziness, you say it's in your head but nothing moves, so I'm unsure, when some people use the term dizziness, they often mean vertigo, or room-spinning, or feel they are themselves spinning. Others mean a light-headed, whoozy feeling.

If by dizziness you mean vertigo (room-spinning), the causes could be either the inner ear or the brain. Inner ear causes of vertigo most commonly include benign positional vertigo (BPPV), which is due to small particle in the inner ear that moves out of place, and can be repositioned with simple head maneuvers. The symptoms often include vertigo that occurs with turning of the head, often while turning over in bed. Another cause, if your symptoms are associated with tinnitus (ear ringing) and hearing loss is called Meniere’s disease and can be treated with medications and sometimes surgery. And so on, several other causes from inner ear problems exist.

Vertigo can also be due to problems in the brain. The most common is a benign tumor called a schwanoma (also called acoustic neuroma). This is diagnosed by MRI of the brain. Multiple sclerosis can cause vertigo, but often, other symptoms are present as well. A normal MRI of the brain excludes multiple sclerosis. Thyroid problems can also lead to vertigo.

Another cause of vertigo is a variant of migraine.

If by dizziness you mean light-headedness, causes could include low blood pressure such as due to dehydration or autonomic dysfunction, cardiac problems, and several other non-neurologic causes. Anemia can cause light-headedness as well.

Regarding your question about the SCM, there is some limited data to suggest that abnormalities in neck muscles leads to vertigo. Cervical disease (such as a herniated disc in the cervical (neck) region or arthritis of the spine) can cause vertigo, though this is not common More often, the dizziness is not room-spinning per se but rather a wooziness or sort of light-headed dizziness. I will refer to this as cervicogenic dizziness. This notion of cervicogenic dizziness is not accepted by all medical practioners, it is controversial, as it is not well researched, difficult to diagnose, and difficult to conduct research on. However, it may be diagnosed in someone with neck pathology and dizziness in which no other cause is found. Therefore, it is a diagnosis of exclusion, after inner-ear and brain problems are excluded.

Patients with dizziness due to neck pathology (cervicogenic dizziness) often complain of dizziness that is worse with particular head movements and when the head is maintained in one specific posture for prolonged periods. Neck pain and a headache in the occipital region (the back of the head above the neck) may be associated with the dizziness. The dizziness may last minutes to hours after assuming certain head positions.

In panic disorder and with severe anxiety, light-headedness can occur, but dizziness should not be attributed to anxiety until an investigation (at least a thorough examination by an experienced physician, with testing as indicated) is done.

Evaluation by a primary doctor (internist/family physician) is recommended with referral to an ENT or neurologist as deemed indicated by him/her.

Thank you for this opportunity to answer your questions, I hope you find the information I have provided useful, good luck.

Thank you so much for responding. My dizziness is not vertigo i guess...b/c nothing is spinning and i get dizzy when i hole my head in different postions, but when i come back up straight the dizziness stops. so it seems like it could be the neck "dizziness"?? cause when i lay down and move around in my bed i DONT feel dizzy....and i read that if it were an innner ear thing laying down would be worse in some cases?? right? Only sometimes when I close my eyes and roll over in bed i feel like its semi spinning...but when I open my eyes nothing is moving?? I almost think it could be anxiety...b/c im worried that i willl be dizzy so I might casue mysel to feel something that isnt real? could that be?

I also suffer from anxiety...and i can relate to ure condition..a couple times a month i get the same symptoms ......its seems to be a type of dizziness thats hard to explain..nothing spinning but u feel a little off balance and things around you seem a little woozy but not spinning...its an awful feeling and i have been unable to explain this to explain this to my doctor cus i feel dizzy but nothing is spinning ..it just feels like something in my head is just not right and sometimes it could last up to an hour or 2 so i just lay down for a nap and when i wake up it seems to have subsided..i feel for u cus this is an awful feeling and i find it brings on anxiety even worst..

yes! thats what I have too....like its soo weird...it is soo hard to explain...it is such a weird "dizziness" I mean idk if it could al just be anixety?? idk....but now its like a circle like I am soo worried I am going to get dizzy...when i get dizzy is it cause im worrying about it?? u no what I mean? idk i hate living like this...if u ever find out what it could be let me no...keep me updated....

I don't know if my experience is similar..my dizziness was more of a lightheadedness and I always felt like I was going to pass out. I was getting very drained from this and upset. My doctor tried to tell me it was anxiety b/c I am a young, otherwise healthy person. After a few weeks of anxiety medication, there were no results. I finally had a tilt table test done and passed out during the test, proving that I had orthostatic hypotension. I am now on midodrine (a vasoconstrictor) and it was well controlled. I hope you find out what is wrong. My main point is don't let the doctors tell you it is anxiety just to save themselves from telling you that they don't know what is wrong. In many cases, I suppose anxiety would be a cause, but proper evaluations should be done first. Good luck!

im having the same problem as you.i think its anxiety or maybe when your in stress it happens..im not sure..im rather an unhealthy person.get tired easily.so when i do things even after im tired i hav dis kind f dizziness...i think proper sleep,rest and food will help.

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